Airship.



l v APPLICATION FILED APR- 16| 1915.

A TTOR/VEYS TEE.

C. H. H. SCOTT. c. B. scoTT, COMMIT AIRSHIP.

5. olv 6H um DI A HU E L H N 0 N A C U P DI A n QU 8 P0 Q/ QU @0 il 1lPatenred May 16, 1916.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2 TTUHNE YS c. H. H. SCOTT. C B SCOTT, COMMITTEE AIRSHIP.APPLICATION FILED APR-16,1915.

Patented May16,1916.

ATTORNEYS WIT/VESSES:

C.`H. H. SCOTT. -c.'a. scoTT. COMMITTEE.

AIRSHIP. APPLICATION EILED APR.16. 1915.

PfIIenIed May 16, 1916.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

' ATTORNEYS C1. H. H. SCOTT.

c. s. scoTT; COMMITTEE.

v APPLICATIOAFIFLSEITPR. 16, 19u-5. 1,183,683. Patented May16,1916.

. e SHEETS-SHEET 5.

Wl T/VE SSE S:

A TTOHNEYS ans aTnT raro CHARLES HENRY HAMILTON SCOTT, OF LYNCI-IIBURG,VIRGINIA, BY CHARLES' B. SCOTT, COMMITTEE, 0F LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA.

AIRSHIP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 16, 1916..

Application Afiled April 16, 1915. Serial No. 21,938.

To all 'whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, CHARLES B. SOOTT, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Lynchburg, in the county of Campbell and State ofVirginia, have been appointed committee for CHARLES HENRY HAMILTONSCOTT, of Lynchburg, in the county of Campbell and State of Virginia,who has made certain new and useful Improvements in Airships, of whichthe following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in air ships, and it consists inthe combinations, constructions, and arrangements herein described andclaimed.

An object of the invention is `to provide an air ship having a mainsustaining plane formed of two sections disposed in angular relation toeach other in substantially V- shaped relation with means for forcingair against the planes, the thrust of the air serving to raise thedevice and to sustain it.

A further object of the invention is to provide an' air ship havingnovel means for drawing in air from the sides of the machine, thesemeans consisting preferably of a series of fans or blowers so arrangedas to operate most eiicientlyvfor the purpose intended.

A further object of the invention is toprovide an air ship of the typementioned which is provided with means for sustaining the machine orpermitting its gradual descent in case of accident or injury, therebyinsuring the descent of the machine slowly and obviating any danger tothe passengers.

A further Object Of the invention is to provide improved means forbracing and strengthening the air ship.

These and many other objects and advantages will appear in the followingspecification, and the novel features of the invention will beparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming partof this ment. Fig. 3 is a section along the line 3-73 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4is a detail sectional view of a portion of the parachute operatingmechanism. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective View of anotherportion of theparachute operating mechamsm. Fig. 6 is a sectional view along the line6*(5 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 7 is asection along the line 7-7 of Fig. 1. Fig. 8 is a section along the line8 8 of Fig. 1. Fig. 9is a plan view of a modified form of the device.Fig. 10 is a side view of the form shown in Fig. 9. Fig. 11 is 'anenlarged section of a portion of the device, along the line 11-11 ofFig. l0. Fig. 12 is a plan View of a further modified form. Fig. 13 isla side view of the form shown in Fig. 12, and Fig. 14 is asectionthrough a portion of the device Shown in Fig. 12, along the line 14k-14.y

Referring now particularly to Figs. 1, 2, andV 3, there is shown aiframe comprising upper horizontal members 1, lower horizontal members 2,uprights 3, the frame thus constructed being braced by suitable guywires 5. y

Supported by the frame is the main sustaining plane, which I term thetwin plane, due to the fact that it consists of two portions 6 and 7disposed in angular relation so as to form substantially a V-shapedstructure, as Clearly shown in Fig. 8. Between the wings or sections 6and 7 of this il-shaped sustaining plane, is disposed a platform 8 uponwhich are mounted the engines which drive the various propellers, andfans or blowers that cause the device to rise in the air and also topropel it forwardly. Certain of these engines are for the purpose ofdriving the side propellers or blowers and others are for the purpose ofdriving the end propellers. It is obviously a matterof design as to howmany engines shall be used.

Consider now Fig. l3; there is shown one of these engines at 10. Thedrive shaft of this engine. is prolonged on both sides as shown at 11and propellers or'blowers 12 are mounted on the ends of the shaft 1 1near. the sides of the machine. lt will be notedthat the shaft 11 passesthrough the sustaining planes, or rather the sections 6 and 7 of themain sustaining plane, openings being left for that purpose. The ends ofthe shaft 11 are journaled inthe main frame.

In Fig. 2 are shown four ofv these propellers'as being disposed alongthe side of the machine. These are preferably arranged in pairs, for itwill be noted that the propellers at Ithe left Fig. 3, have their bladesturned in one direction, while those at the right of the central line ofthe gure, that is to say, at the forward end of the machine, have theirblades turned in the opposite direction. All the propellers aredesigned, however, to force air from the fsides of the machine towardthe inclined planes 6 and 7 as indicated by the arrows F ig. 3 andFig. 1. Each propeller or blower 12 is incased in a hollow cylindricalshield 13 and above the series of propellers or the front is asimilarrudder or guide mem-- ber 18. These rudders are designed to manipulatedin the manner hereinafter described.

In Fig. 7 is shown in detail the means by lwhich the engine 10 drivesthe propeller which causes a forward movement of the 23 and is connectedwith ,thevengine 10 at one end and bears a propeller 24 preciselysimilar to the' propeller at" the rear end.

Extending downwardly from the main frame which supports the main.sustaining plane, are rods 25, see Fig. 2, .which support the car 26. Inorder to further brace the car, the guy wires 27 are provided.

Disposed above the car 26 are wings orv planes v28 and 29 respectivelywhich arepivotally mounted at 30 on brackets 3.1 secured to the rods 25.Links 32 are pivotally secured to the wings or planes 28 and -29 andthese links are in turn pivotallysecured to rods 33 at each end of thecar. The purpose of these wings or planes 28 and 29 is to serve as anemergency device so that if any accident should occur, as for instance,if the motors should stop, then they can be opened up so as to form aparachute and thereby permit the machine to descend slowly to theground.. -In'order to further assist in the chute device is accomplishedby the mechay nism best shown in Fig. 5. From this ligure it will beobserved that a rock shaft 35 is provided with an operating lever 36having a locking segment 37 to'hold the lever 36 in position. An. arm 38is connected to one end of the rock shaft 35 and is pivotally connectedwith one of the pushrods 33. At the other end of the rock shaft is anarm 39 connected by a link 40 with an arm 41 on a rock shaft 42 which isprovided with ank arm 43 pivotally connected with the other rod 33. Itwill thus bef seen that on manipulation of the lever 36 both of the rods33. may be raised simultaneously and to the same extent, thereby pushingupwardly on the links 32 and causing the wings or vanes 28 and 29 toassume the dotted line position shown in Fig. 3, thus opposing a rapiddescent'and permitting the car to come down safely.

At each end of the car 26 is a drum 44, the drum at the forward end ofthe car being connected by means o-f a cable with the forward rudder 18,there being two of these cables 45 for the rudder 18, one on each sidethereof. In Fig. 3 these cables 45 are shown as being carried by themain frame, and in Fig. 2 one of the cables is shown part of the 'frontrudder 18. 'Iherear drum 44 is connected to the rear part of the rearrudder 17 by a cable 46 in precisely the same manner. The rear rudder 17is hinged at 17a at its front end while the front rudder 18 is hinged at18Il at its rear end. It will thus be seen that the guiding of themachine can be effected from the front or from the rear.

Inorder to more effectively control the operation uof the device,meansare provided for shutting offthe air forced through the casings 13by the inclined wings 6 or 7 if the machine should suddenly descend. Aswill be seen from Fig. 2, I provide a series of curtain rollers 47 theserollers being dis'- `posed vertically and bearing curtains which areconnected with small drums disposed on vertical shafts 49 by means of{iexible cords or cables 50. The shafts 49 are adapted to be driven byhorizontal shafts 5l through connected to the drum and to the forwardthe medium of bevel gears, and the shafts 51 are operatively connectedthroughy bevel gears with the central shaft 52 connected with a motor53. The latter is preferably of the electric type and may be-actuated byany suitable source ofy current (not shown) and through an ordinaryswitch (not shown). When the switch is closed, the` motor is operated soas to draw the curtains over the ends of the cylindrical casings 13,thereby shutting off the air, in

l` the descent of the machine, as explained above.

From the foregoing description of the various parts of the apparatus,the operation thereof may be readily understood.

The fans 12 are set in motion, the air is drawn. in from the side asalready explained, and forced against the plane sections 6 and 7. Sincethese sections are at an angle to the general direction in which the airis coming, it will be apparent that the resultant pressure may bedivided into components, certain of which are opposite and equal andcertain of which are in a vertical direction. The components of theforce which are oppositely directed of course counterbalance each otherwhile the vertical components of the force tend to raise the machine offthe ground. The rapidity with which this will occur will, of course,depend upon the speed of the motor which is under control. The forwardmovement of the device is attained by the propellers 24 at `the frontand rear ends of the machine, while the guiding of the device iseffected by the front and rear pro-pellers as already described.

. Incase there should be any reason why one should quickly want todescend, this may be accomplished by closing the circuit to the motor 53and thus closing the curtains on the rods 47. A wire nettingor grating54 is provided for closing the ends of the cylindrical casings 13 so asto form a backing for the curtains when the latter are drawn to shut offthe rush of air when the steering apparatus be out of order, no dangerwill result from the slow descent of the car due to this parachutearrangement.

In 'Figs 9 to 11 inclusive, is shown a modified form of the device. Inthese gures it will be observed that the engines 10x drive the front andrear propellers 24 as in the preferred form of the device. Auxiliaryengines 10Y1drive shafts 11x which bear fan blades 12X, see Fig. 11. Inthis form of the device air is admitted through an opening 56 which iscovered by wire netting 54X near the top of the fan, the lower portionof the fan being protected by a side wall 57. A curtain roller 47x isprovided with a curtain which is attached by means of a flexible cord50x to a drum 58 on a shaft 59 operated by a motor 60. As will be seenfrom Fig. 9,

there are a number of these drums on the shaft 59 so as to provide adrum 58 for each curtain. In this form of the device the fan 12X drawsin the air and forces it against the inclined surfaces 6 and 7 in themanner already described.

In Figs. 12 to 14 inclusive, is shown another modified form in whichengines 10z drive the front and rear propellers 24. Auxiliary engines10W drive shafts 61 upon which are mounted sprockets 62, see Fig. 14.These are connected by sprocket chains 63 with sprockets 64 on a shaft65. The sprocket chains bear blades 66 which are so arranged as to drawair through the opening 56, see Fig. 14, and project it against thesections 6 and 7. The remaining portions of the modified form` shown inFigs. 12 and A14 are substantially the same as those in the other forms.

It will be seen that the invention provides a novel form of airshipwhich is positive in action and does not depend for the lifting of thedevice upon its forward movement through the air. Being independent ofthis forward movement, it can be more easily controlled. In the ordinarydevice,'the machine Inust be forced forwardly at a given rate or itcannot ascend; in my device, on the other hand, the ascent of themachine can be accomplished without any forward movement whatever, sothat the device is especially designed for operation in which thehovering of the device over a point is desired'. It is thus veryefficient for observation purposes during wartime.

The device is not only designed to operate as an independent structure,but a series of such structures may be connectedlup to form a train,each with its independent lifting mechanism.

What is claimedas new is:

1. An airship of the heavier than air type comprising a main frame, amain sustaining plane carried by said frame and consisting of a pair ofplanes arranged 'in angular relation so as to form a V, a series ofblowers on one'side of said sustaining plane, a sec# ond series on theopposite side, means for operating each of said series so as to forceair inwardly and from opposite directions toward said main sustainingplane, certain opposed fans or blowers on opposite sides of the mainsustaining plane being arranged to revolve in one direction, and otheropposed fans or blowers being arranged to revolve in the oppositedirection. v

2. An air ship of the heavier than air type comprising a main frame, -amain sustaining plane carried by said frame and consisting of a pair ofplanes arranged 1 n angular relation so as to form a V, a series ofblowers on one side of said sustaining plane, a second series on theopposite side, means for operating each of said series so as to forceair inwardly and from opposite directions toward said main sustainingplane, certain of said fans or blowers on one side of the mainsustaining plane being arranged to revolve in one direction, and otherfans or blowers being arranged to revolve in the opposite direction, andmeans for cutting off the air coming to the fans or blowers from theV-shaped planes, when the machine is descending.

3. An airship of the heavier than air type comprising a main frame, amain sustaining plane carried by said frame and consisting' of a pair ofplanes arranged in angular relation so as to form a V, a series ofblowers on one side 'of said sustaining plane, a second serieson theopposite side, means for operating each offsaid series so as to forceair inwardly and from opposite directions toward said main sustainingplane, certain of said fans or blowers on one side of the mainsustaining plane being arranged to revolve in one direction and otherfans or blowers being arranged to revolve in the opposite direction,means for cutting oi' the air coming to the fans orblowers from theV-shaped planes when the machine is de-A scending, said last-named meanscomprising a series of curtains disposed at the outside of the fans, anda motor for operating the curtains simultaneously.

4. In an airship of the heavier than air type, a main frame, a mainsustaining plane having portions disposed angularly with respect to oneanother, a series 'of fans or blowers adapted to force air toward saidangularly disposed portions for causing the machine to rise, a carsuspended from the main frame beneath the latter, a parachute comprisinga pair of hinged planes disposed between said main frame and said car,and means for operating said parachute from said car.

5. In an airship of the heavier than air type, a main frame, a mainsustaining plane having portions disposed angularly withrespect to oneanother, a Series of fans or blowers adapted to vforce airtoward saidangularly disposed portions for causing the machine t0 rise, a carsuspended from the main frame beneath the latter, a parachute comprisinga pair of hinged planes disposed between said main frame and said car,and means for operating said parachute from said car, said last-namedmeans comprising links pivotally connected to said hinged planes, pushrods pivotally connected to said links, and means including links andlevers for connecting said push rods vso as to operate the lattersimultaneously.

6. An airship of the heavier than air type comprising a main frame, amain sustaining plane composed of a pair of planes disposed in angularrelation, fans or blowers for forcing. air against said angularlydisposed planes from opposite directions, an extension at the forwardend of said main frame on each side of the center line, said extensionbeing beveled to reduce the force of the wind, a front propellerdisposed between said lezitension,"and a rear propeller at the rear ofthe machine.

7 An airship of the heavier than air type comprising a main frame, amain sustaining plane composed of a pair of planes disposed in angularrelation, fans or blowers for forcing air against said angularlydisposed planes from opposite directions, an eXtension at the forwardend of said main frame on each side of the center line, said extensionbeing beveled to reduce the force of the wind, a front propellerdisposed between said extension, a rear propeller at the rear of themachine, a Jfront rudder immediately in rear of .said front propeller,and a rear rudder immediately in the front of said rear propeller. y

8. An airship of the heavier than air type comprising a main frame, amain sustaining plane composed of a pair of planes disposed in angularrelation, fans or blowers for forcing air against said angularlydisposed planes from opposite directions, an eXtension at the forwardend of said main frame on each side ofthe centerline, said extensionbeing beveled to reduce the -force of the wind, a front propellerdisposed between said extension, a rear propeller at the rear of the'machine, a front rudder immediately in rear of said front propeller, arear rudder immediately in the front of said rear propeller, and meansfor operating both of said rudders independently. f

9. An air ship of the heavier than air type comprising a main frame, amain sustaining 'plane carried by said frame and consisting of a pair ofplanes arranged in angular relation so as to form a V, a series ofblowers 4on one side of said sustaining plane, a second series on theopposite side, means 'for operating each of said series so as to forceair inwardly and from opposite directions toward said main sustainingplane, certain of said fans or blowers on one side of the mainsustaining plane being and an electric motor for operating the cur- 10arranged to revolve in one direction, and tains simultaneously.

other fans or blowers being arranged to revolve in the oppositedirection, and indi- CHARLES B' SCOTT vidual means for cutting olf theair coming Uofmmittee for @hartes Henry Hamilton to the fans or blowersfrom the V-shaped Scott.

{Jlanes when the machine is descending, said W'itnesses:-

ast named means comprising a series of L. A. STANLEY, curtains disposedat the outside of the'fans, J. K. MOORE.

